


Water

by Swlfangirl



Series: Happy Sterek Birthday Heather! [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Daddy!WereDer, a tad angsty, but happy ending, domestic sterek - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 09:57:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4701830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swlfangirl/pseuds/Swlfangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles tries to get his son in the bath while Derek stays late at work. Things don't go as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Water

“Asheeeer, do not make me chase you down.” Stiles yelled from the bathroom where he was wiping Cece off with a towel. Derek had to stay late for work and the twins hadn’t taken it well. They’d been even more obnoxious over the last few hours without his husband to put them in their place. Stiles just really hated yelling at them, okay? Sure, he had them sit in time-out occasionally, but it was nothing compared to the Alpha glare. Derek’s mere presence seemed to get them to start acting like decent little humans and not the spawn of Satan.

As expected, Asher didn’t rush in, ready and willing, to take his bath. Thankfully, the lavender bubble bath did wonders to knock Cece out. Stiles carried a very sleepy five-year-old to her bed before he went looking for his son.

He checked his room, only to see that it was empty. He took the stairs two at a time down to the living room, relief flooding through him when he saw a familiar shape planted on the couch.

Stiles exhaled deeply. “Asher, I know you like it better when Daddy does bath time, but we’ve talked about this and you know that sometimes he just can’t, no matter how badly he wants to.” Determination settled into his son’s tiny features. Stiles sighed in exasperation. Why did the kid have to get ALL of his worst traits? It wasn’t as if Ash was a bad kid or anything, but he had a smart mouth and a stubborn streak a mile wide just like his papa. He looked like a miniaturized version of Derek with lighter hair, but the personality was all Stiles.

Stiles had already apologized to John for his entire childhood several times over, but made a mental note to do it again.

“C’mon Ash, you still need to get cleaned up. I promise if you stop fighting me on this I’ll have Daddy come hug you goodnight when he gets home, k?”

Asher looked up at Stiles with wide, glassy green eyes brimming with unshed tears. “Call him. I wanna talk to Daddy and then I’ll take my bath.”

“I’ll try, bub, but if he’s busy and can’t answer you’ll have to take your bath anyway. Got it?”

Tears leaked from the corner of Asher’s eyes and he immediately deflated. Settling down on the couch beside his son, Stiles grabbed the cell from his pocket and dialed Derek. Thankfully just two rings later his husband answered.

“Stiles, is everything okay?”

“Well that depends on who you ask, I got somebody that needs to talk to you.” Stiles answered, tapping the speaker button and handing the phone over to Asher.

“D-daddy?”

“Asher? Buddy what’s wrong?” Derek asked. Instantly the rigid stiffness in his son’s shoulders drained away and his breathing relaxed.

“When are you coming home? I don’t want you to stay late. I want you to come give me my baths.”

“ I’d like to be there to give you your bath too, pup, but I have some stuff I need to do first. To make sure everyone is safe.”

Asher squirmed a little in his seat, but he seemed to have calmed down drastically. “Okay, daddy. You promise to give me night night hugs?”

Derek let out a small laugh, causing Stiles heart to do a little flip. “I promise, bud. I’ll be home as soon as I can get there. Be good for papa and take your bath okay?”

“Okay, daddy. I Loves you.” He answered, passing the phone back to Stiles and making his way upstairs toward the bathroom before he could hear Derek tell him that he loved him too.

“We should talk when you get home. I think I know what that was about.”

“Okay, babe. It looks like I’m gonna be here another thirty, forty minutes at least. As soon as I finish up, I’ll be on my way.” Derek’s voice was a little tired and worn out. Despite his werewolf abilities, the man was just dead tired. Beacon Hills PD didn’t allow for much time off; even the normal, non-supernatural type crimes were up lately. Stiles really missed his husband.

With a sigh, he followed Asher up the steps and started his bath. Once he rinsed the soap from his son’s hair, Stiles pulled him out and dried him off with a towel.

“Ash, can I ask you somethin?” The dark-haired boy just nodded and silently played with his rubber duck, waving it through the air in front of him (Stiles had demanded it was a bathtime requirement, to which Derek rolled his eyes and gave in, because that’s what he did). “Why do you get so upset when Daddy’s not home on time?”

Asher shook his head no. He was either unable to say how it made him feel or he was just giving Stiles the silent treatment.

“Asher, please talk to me. Is it because he’s a policeman? Is that why you get so scared when Daddy stays late for work?”

Wide green eyes snapped open and Asher stared at Stiles as if he had read his mind and his father had figured out his deepest, darkest secret.

“Maybe,” he said, biting his lip.

Which made a “ding ding you’re a winner” sound go off in Stiles’ brain.

“I know what that’s like, buddy. You know how pop-pop’s retired?” Another nod, “Well, he used to be the sheriff and you know what that means?” Clearly unable to answer Asher just stared. “I had a policeman daddy too, and I was always worried he was going to get hurt, even more after my mom... got sick. I was so scared that the bad guys would take him from me and I wouldn’t have a family anymore”

Asher frowned, looking dejectedly at the duck, as if he found its mere existence offensive to his nature.

“Bub, I can’t promise you that life is going to be perfect or that you’ll never have to worry about your dad. What I can promise you, kiddo, is that you will never have to worry about not having a family. You’ll never need to worry about whether or not somebody is going to take care of you. Do you know why?”

“Why, Papa?” Asher said, looking more hopeful than he had since Stiles broke the bad news.

“Because your daddy and I, we picked you a big family. Our pack is full of lots of strong people who all love you and Cece more than anything else in the whole world. You know that right?” He asked, content with Asher’s silence at this point he just continued rambling.

“Scott and Ally love you just as much as they do Trevor and Baby Angel… and I know, Lydia and Jax might not get to see you as much, but they always make up for it when they’re here, right?” Asher let his head bob up and down as Stiles scrubbed the towel over his short, light brown hair. “That’s not even counting Erica, Boyd, Isaac, Cora, Liam, and the rest of the pack. There’s not one person in this pack that wouldn’t do anything to make sure you and Cece were both happy and healthy.”

Asher dug his nose in against Stiles’ neck and he took a deep breath, releasing a slow stream of air from between his lips.

“Go. Get your jamas on and I’ll come tuck you in.” Stiles eased his tired son onto the floor.

Once the bathroom door shut behind Ash, though, Stiles immediately started pulling at the short spikes of hair, racking his brain. He probably fucked this up somehow but he used to hate the patronizing spiel everyone gave him when he worried about John: “ _Oh he’ll be fine, he’s tough as nails_ ” or even the few John had said himself “ _You don’t have to worry about losing me, kiddo. I’m not going anywhere._ ”

Stiles wasn’t stupid, and neither was Asher. They understood the real possibility of losing their parent, even more so when that parent had a dangerous job. His mom getting sick had really shaken up Stiles’ world.

He’d always assumed that if he was going to lose someone, anyone, it would be his dad. Reality gave him a nice smack in the face when he was just a few years older than Ash. He didn’t want to make his son feel the same way he’d felt when everyone kept placating him and saying there was no need to worry.

Stiles scrubbed his hands across his face a couple more times before making his way toward Asher’s room. He was barely halfway through Green Eggs and Ham before his son was cuddled up on his chest, softly snoring. He was just about to roll over and sneak out when he caught sight of Derek in the doorway.

“Thank God, Come pry this little furnace off of me.” he whispered, giving a small clap to Asher’s back.

Derek just shook his head and moved into the room lifting Ash up to his chest, giving him a soft peck on the forehead. “Hey pup, I’m here for my night night hugs.” Derek whispered against Asher’s ear, making the boy squeeze even harder around his neck.

“N-nnight, Daddy. Pack s’take care of u,” he mumbled. Derek’s werewolf hearing was probably good enough for him to understand.

Derek scooped Asher onto his bed and tucked him tightly beneath the sheets. Stiles slipped back downstairs. He made them both a quick cup of instant decaf, heated up a plate of dinner for his husband, and grabbed a couple of the mounds brownies he’d made the night before. A minute later, he heard Derek’s footsteps coming down the stairs.

He was sitting at the table, mug in hand when he felt the warm comfort of Derek’s arms wrapping around him. Stiles looked up at his husband, the tired lines around the bright green eyes were showing more clearly each and every day. He hated it; he wanted to knock Derek out long enough to get a solid ten or twelve hours of sleep to make up for all that he lost chasing one creature or another around Beacon Hills..

“You said we needed to talk?” Derek asked, grabbing his plate and moving into his own seat. He wasted no time digging into his food and moaning in approval at the taste. It had probably been the first bite he’d had all day, despite the fact that Stiles always packed a lunch for him. It was like living with his dad all over again, a thought that Stiles quickly pushed out of his mind (yeah, way too creepy).

“Well for starters, I’ve figured out why Ash gets so upset when you stay late. It seems he’s inherited the misfortune of having a cop for a dad and the anxiety that comes along with it. Pretty sure if he wasn’t a born wolf he’d already be having panic attacks about it.”

“What? Why?” Derek’s thick, dark brows scrunched together in surprise and then immediately flopped back down. “He doesn’t need to worry, I always come back.” Derek said, his mouth still a little full.

“Which of course, is the exact opposite of what I told him,” Stiles sighed, folding his arms on top of the table and laying his head over them.

“How do I suck so much at parenting? Hell, I raised half of our fucking pack, and they turned out okay. I don’t understand how I’m not better with five-year-olds. I feel like that should be my target audience.” Stiles groaned, the realization hitting him like a well-pointed baseball bat to the head. “Maybe that’s it...they see me as one of their own and my authority holds no meaning.”

Stiles could feel the confused half-scowl Derek was giving him. Stiles knew he wasn’t making sense to anyone but himself, and he knew that Derek hated when he said self-deprecating things, no matter how true they were.

“What happened?” he asked, cutting to the point. The true essence of Derek Hale.

Stiles relayed the story, almost word for word, explaining himself and his reasoning. He talked until he felt like his lips were gonna fall off which, considering that talking was his trademark, was pretty impressive.

“You did the right thing, Stiles.” Derek huffed, causing Stiles’ head to snap up, locking eyes with his husband. “I wish we had the luxury of ignorance but we just don't. You pretend, _hell I pretend_ , that I’m invincible, that we all are, and that’s just not the truth.”

“I didn’t wanna placate him, Der. Not like that. I remember how it felt to think that everyone you were meant to trust was lying to you. I still kinda resent them for it, even if they had good intentions.” Stiles heaved out a harsh breath. “I didn’t wanna do that to Asher.”

Derek pushed his plate away and pulled Stiles into his arms. “Just think about how much you love your dad and how great it was growing up with him, even when it was hard sometimes.”

Stiles tried not to cry but his parenting insecurities were at the highest level of DEFCON. He’d grown up a lot over the last ten years and, for the most part, he’d gotten over himself and the cloud of self doubt that seemed to follow him around. Derek had a lot to do with that.

His kids though, they were a weak spot. He knew somehow he was going to massively screw them up, but at least they had Derek to even things out a bit. He sighed, rocking himself into his husband's arms just a little more, enjoying the wolfy warmth.

“I’m calling you in sick tomorrow. The pack can look into whatever you’ve got going on at the station, Der. I miss you, the kids miss you, and you really need some fucking sleep.” Stiles had his stubborn face on, but it was unnecessary. Derek wasn’t even attempting to argue. He just nodded and dragged Stiles upstairs.

“When I wake up, we’re getting a sitter and you and I are going to have some time alone.” Derek whispered, tugging Stiles across the bed and winding his arms around his waist.

Stiles thought that it was the best thing Derek had said in a long time.


End file.
